The company that spent decades becoming the world’s default map just stuck an “add fake nuclear plant” button on it.
Google Earth now lets you create AI images using real-world locations.
With the new Nano Banana AI feature, you can pick any place in Google Earth, click “Create Image,” and describe what you want to see.
The AI can turn that location into a historical scene, a futuristic city… pic.twitter.com/DJMDUEbvRA— Pirat_Nation 🔴 (@Pirat_Nation) July 31, 2026
Google rolled out Nano Banana 2 AI image tool in Google Earth web on July 30 2026.
Users type a prompt over any real location and it generates a new image glued to actual satellite aerial and 3D data.
Examples researchers made in hours: nuclear plant in Iran, refugees at Mexican border, fatal crash in Amsterdam, bomb crater next to hospital in Gaza, homeless camp in LA, skyscrapers in rural areas.
OSINT expert Hank Van Ess wrote: “Tonight I typed just one sentence into Google Earth and put refugees near the Mexican border. Then I planted a nuclear plant in Iran.”
Another: type your workplace address and “make it look like a drone attack” and it looks like real conflict zone photos.
Google says every generated image has invisible SynthID watermark. Check with Gemini or Lens. They block some harmful topics.
Critics say most people never check watermarks. Screenshots spread fast before anyone verifies. Detection can be bypassed.
Feature was marketed for history visuals and real estate plans. It inherits the credibility of real Google Earth maps.
By July 31 Google announced it was rolling the feature back while adding stronger guardrails after people shared policy-violating screenshots.
404 Media (Joseph Cox, July 31 2026): https://www.404media.co/google-earths-new-ai-lets-anyone-fabricate-completely-bullshit-satellite-images/
BBC News / BBC Verify: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9349yx2ydvo
Google’s own blog post announcing the feature: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/earth/nano-banana-google-earth-image-generation/